The Origin PC BlackWidow Chroma Mechanical Keyboard Review
by E. Fylladitakis on August 6, 2015 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Peripherals
- Keyboard
- Origin PC
- Razer
- Mechanical Keyboards
Final Words
As with every keyboard that we review, I used the ORIGIN PC BlackWidow Chroma gaming mechanical keyboard as my personal keyboard for around 10 days to subjectively evaluate its abilities and to better expose its strengths and weaknesses. My typical weekly usage includes a lot of typing (about 100-150 pages), a few hours of gaming and some casual usage, such as internet browsing and messaging. Because typing covers the majority of my typical schedule, the BlackWidow Chroma felt very comfortable and enjoyable to work with. That is largely because of the Razer Green switches, which are practically nearly exact copies of the MX Blue switch, a switch that most people consider ideal for typing. In my personal opinion, I do prefer the MX Brown switch because the clicking noise of the MX Blue switch slightly distracts me. Still, the BlackWidow Chroma feels excellent when typing, especially when typing long texts.
Teal (left) and purple (right) static backlighting
For gaming, the BlackWidow Chroma was fine and very responsive as a keyboard, but the software was entirely inadequate for my needs. Since my current game of choice is an action RPG, I have a few macros that all include mouse movements. The Razer Synapse software cannot include any mouse functions into its macros, so I had to resort to third party software, compile the macros as .exe files and then insert them into the gaming profile of the keyboard as program launches. I also use a lot of macros to insert common text responses for the game, but also code for my professional needs. Although the Razer Synapse software can do that, it was far less complicated and configurable to write these macros with the third party software that I am usually using. Therefore, the actual functionality of the entire Razer Synapse software was reduced to change the backlighting to my favorite color, program two individual profiles and repurpose some keys to execute external programs (that were the macros I compiled with another software). Honestly, Razer can do a lot better with their software if they decide to spend some resources on it.
Yellow(left) and pink (right) static backlighting
As a keyboard, the ORIGIN PC BlackWidow Chroma is fairly well made. Even though it is mostly plastic, the materials are of good quality and the metallic support plate does provide mechanical cohesion where it is required. The matte black cover does repel skin oil and keeps the top free of fingerprints and smear. Beneath the plastics, Kailh's switches and design are adequately good for a high performance keyboard. Certainly, they essentially are copies of Cherry's products, but that does not mean that they are of significantly lower quality. In our experience, Kailh's switches are not as consistent as Cherry's, yet their test results do stay well within the expected quality limits.
There are just two issues with the ORIGIN PC BlackWidow Chroma - the mediocre software and the retail price. We thoroughly explained the limitations of the Razer Synapse software above and we are disappointed to see that the company has done little to evolve their software over the last year, this despite the heavy competition from numerous other companies. These drawbacks could easily be remedied if Razer were to further develop the software, but otherwise the Razer Synapse currently feels inadequate for a top-tier gaming keyboard.
With the current retail price of the ORIGIN PC BlackWidow Chroma, which is at $170 including shipping, we feel that the company will have a very hard time competing. No matter how well made or performing the BlackWidow Chroma may be, it is still a keyboard with a plastic body and switches made by Kailh. The mediocre software does not help much either. Corsair's K70 RGB now retailing for $140 including shipping, Tesoro's similar Lobera Supreme had its price reduced to $110 including shipping, and even the huge K95 RGB sharing the same price tag as the BlackWidow Chroma. Ultimately the BlackWidow Chroma is not a bad product, but given this competition its poorly priced. To that end I suspect a price cut would go a long way towards addressing the market and putting the keyboard on much better competitive footing.
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yhselp - Thursday, August 6, 2015 - link
Thing is, Razer nowadays seem to consider themselves a fashion brand above all else. A while back they pretty much forced retailers to permanently increase prices of older and newer products alike. Word goes round that on the headphones' side they'd like to be seen as the new/next Beats. Judging by the increasing amount of teenagers sporting Krakens out in public here in Europe, it would seem that the strategy is working -- good luck trying to convince these kids that anything is better than Razer. I would imagine most of these products are bought as gifts and hence the inflated prices. It's sad for people that care, but it seems to be working out great for Razer... I personally haven't been excited about a Razer peripheral for quite a while now.hansmuff - Thursday, August 6, 2015 - link
Their marketing department is good, that's for sure. The only razer product I ever had was some mouse pad that was aluminum and had a rough and a smooth side. That was a good product, lasted many years. When I wanted a new one it was discontinued and a far inferior product sold instead.Been using NGen C4 since then and never looked back.
khanikun - Friday, August 7, 2015 - link
Ya, Razer's mousepads are total junk today. My old Razer mousepad was great, but the surface has been worn smooth. I replaced it with a Razer Vespula. It's junk. The mousing surface has separated from the plastic base. I had to superglue it back down, but the middle of it started bubbling up now.I'm on the search for a replacement.
Morawka - Friday, August 7, 2015 - link
try the Razer Sphex.. once you get one of these, you wont want a traditional mousepad again.Its basicly a thick sticker, that sticks to your desk, never moves, and comes in several surface options.
FMinus - Wednesday, August 12, 2015 - link
I was gaming competitively a lot from the mid 90s to late 2000, Quake and such games, and after going through about 50 mouse pads, which all turned to crap after half a year or sooner, I decided to buy something more permanent and bought the Razer Manticore (Aluminium) and haven't changed a mouse mat since.Now that I think of, if could go to some metal works and buy a think sheet of polished aluminium for cheaper, but never the less, the Manticore is with me now for it's 4th year I believe and I don't think I'll ever buy a new mosue mat again, unless the aluminium all of a sudden disappears or it gets bend misteriously.
piiman - Saturday, August 8, 2015 - link
Corsair has them. I have one and love it.edzieba - Thursday, August 6, 2015 - link
" Furthermore, downloading the software requires that the user sign up for a Razer Synapse account and go through email validation. One cannot simply download the software/drivers, install them and be done with it. "Jeez, they're STILL doing this? Razer got slammed a year or so ago for pulling this nonsense with their mice. I'd have hoped they'd have learnt by now.
Stuka87 - Thursday, August 6, 2015 - link
Thing is, it works really well. I have a Black Widow Ultimate and an Imperator mouse (love them both) and the software works very well for me. It tells me when there is a new update, never requires reboots when patching, allows me to customize both in one control panel. I can understand there may be a small minority that game on their PC and don't have the internet, but VERY few games that I play are not online. So the online requirement has never bothered me.HOOfan 1 - Thursday, August 6, 2015 - link
If you like it, great sign up for it. They shouldn't be forcing people to do this though.Flunk - Thursday, August 6, 2015 - link
I have a Razer Blackwidow keyboard and I find the software to be overwrought, buggy and rather pointless for a keyboard. Having to log in just to use it is insulting and pointless, if they want to do that it should be an optional feature. Also, since I uninstalled it Windows is constantly redownloading the installer and running it for me. Why it does this I have no idea, it's irritating.